Congratulations to James
Croney and James Cook. Their 5
bass sack weighed 15.17 pounds (it included 1
crappie). Flukes, traps, and swimbaits were the
baits used to catch the winning fish. James and
James do not normally fish together as a team, but a
rule in this tournament is all teams must have 2
anglers in the boat. James and James were both
lacking a partner, so Reggie paired them
together.

SPECIAL RULES

* No culling. If a bass goes into
the livewell, it stays in the livewell.
* 5 bass limit - no length limit.
* 1 crappie can be weighed-in with the stringer.
* A grinnell (sometimes called a bowfin) will add 1
pound of weight to the team stringer. Only 1 per
team.
* Gas outboard motors can not be used on the lake.

* Only the top ten teams or their
alternates down the list are eligible to fish in
this tournament.

* All teams will be 2 man team.
Every seat will be filled.

* Life jackets had to be worn 100%
of the time while on the lake.

THE LAKE and CONDITIONS

The lake is a 160 acre private lake near Athens. It
had two feeder creeks and a good working boat ramp.
The maximum depth was only about 13 ft. There was
plenty of underwater brush piles and lily pads.
Cattails surrounded the entire lake. The water was
clear but it had that east Texas dark tannin color
to it. In places where the lake was calm, millions
of little white flying bugs covered the surface of
the water and were being eaten by the shad and
minnows.

It was dead calm most of the morning but toward the
end of the tournament a little breeze started to
blow out of the SW. The air temp was 52 at the
Gander Mt. parking lot at 6:00 am. On the lake, it
warmed up to 64 by 8:30 am and was 82 at the 1:00
pm weigh-in. The barometric pressure started out at
30.12, rose to 30.13, then fell to 30.10. The water
temp was 68. There was no moon the night before.
The fishing was very slow compared to Reggie's
scouting report. The high pressure system over
Texas may have turned the bite off.

THE RESULTS

10 teams fished
2 bass limits were caught (a limit is 5 fish)

2 teams caught a grinnell

3 teams caught a crappie
No team zeroed.
37 bass and 3 crappie were weighed in with a weight
of 84.27 pounds.
2.10 pounds was the average fish weight.

The club met at the Corsicana Gander Mountain
parking lot. At 6:05 am the guys made a 52 mile
drive to the private ranch/camp near Athens. It was
a single file caravan of pickup trucks and bass
boats driving through the countryside. Once the
club arrived at the private ranch our off road
driving skills kick in. The long road to the lake
was full of pot holes and craters that could swallow
a entire trailer wheel past the top of the
finder. We arrived at the boat ramp around 7:30 am.

Scott Mohone's Boy Scout Troop 234
(from Waxahachie, TX) took over from there. The Boy
Scouts guided the drivers to parking spots, bleached
the trailers and the bottom of the boats to kill any
invasive plans, and served breakfast. Just before
the start of the tournament the Boy Scouts
performed a flag ceremony with the pledge of
allegiance, Boy Scout oath, and Boy Scout law.
Reggie then led a pray and we were out on the lake
fishing by 8:30 am.

At 1:00 pm we weighed in under the
pavilion and the Boy Scouts served lunch......all
you could eat hamburgers, chips, cherry cobbler, and
ice tea.

After lunch, the club took the Boy
Scouts out on the lake for few hours of fishing.

SCATTER SHOOTING

A few teams spotted alligators on
the lake, most of us saw the alligator traps/lines
baited with chicken..........All the teams were on
time at the meeting place. Reggie was the last to
arrive (about 2 minutes late)............There was a
big natural floating island that was made of some
kind of bog grass out in the middle of the
lake. Since none of us had ever fished the lake
before, we didn't know that the island was
floating. Several teams used it as a reference
point to mark their location but when the wind
picked up the island moved. Some got confused or
thought their marker buoys broke free and drifted
off...........Ben Griffin caught
the big bass of the tournament. He won
an Ata-boy! from Reggie.........Mike Thurman
& Joe Lee caught their bass on Little
George's, swimbaits, and ring fry's. They also
caught about 10 crappie........Joe Crouch &
Michael Walden caught their fish on Texas
rigs, shaky heads, spoon bill rebel plugs, and
paddle tail worms...................Kevin
Davis & Byron McFarland caught their fish
on swimbaits and electric chicken colored plastic
baits......Jim Love & Tracy Derrick
caught their bass on cranks, flukes, worms, & brush
hogs.......................Herman Martin &
Charles Martin caught their bass on
crankbaits and senkos....................Jimmy
Redmon & Jim Redmon caught their bass on
flukes and cranks............George Walker &
Brandon Wooddell caught 2 grinnell on tube
baits..........Doyle Ray & Noah Ray
caught their bass on speed craws..........All the
teams actually caught a limit, but the "NO CULL"
rule scared some of the teams into throwing back the
smaller bass. Teams didn't want to catch a big bass
after their livewell already had 5 in
it............The first place prize was a set of BBQ
rub
http://smokehousesalt.com/store/Smoked_Salt.html donated
by Brent Edwards.........Several
teams had dead batteries by the end of the
tournament......Joe Lee caught a couple of nice bass
in the pond located on the side of the road when he
was driving out of the ranch.

LAKE SIDE DEVOTIONAL

Reggie lead a short devotional. He reflected on his
time at a retreat in Colorado a couple of weeks ago.
He was away from most people, no phones, no
internet, and no TVs to distract him. He pointed out
that yes, it's good being outdoors with God, but we
as humans also need fellowship with our brothers
in church.

He was very proud of the men that
attend worship and don't just drop their wife off at
the door. He also reminded us that we should be
praying for what we need, not what we want.

The
Classic on Lake Winnsboro - September 25, 2010 6:00 am
- 3:30 pm

Two in a row! Congratulations to George Walker
and Brandon Wooddell. The Vilbig boys win the
classic again and this year set a new club record with a
weight of 18.57 pounds. It was still dark when they
picked a random spot on the east bank. Right off the bat
Brandon and George both hooked on to big fish. With 2
hogs hooked up at the same time, neither Brandon or
George could net each other's fish, so they ended up
lipping both fish into the boat. They caught their 5
fish sack on flukes, jigs, rattle traps, and crankbaits.
$1,000.00 was the 1st place payout.

Anglers of the year, Mike Thurman and Joe Lee
took 2nd place and $500.00 cash. Their 5 fish
sack was just 1.22 pounds shy Brandon's and George's
record weight. Joe thought he had an idea about what
lake was going to be chosen and pre-fished several area
lakes in anticipation that one of his lakes would be
picked as the classic lake (he picked the wrong ones).
Joe even drove out to Lake Winnsboro, talked to the
locals, and scouted the lake from his truck hoping to
gain some knowledge of what the lake was like. Joe and
Mike caught their 17.35 pound limit on white crankbaits
and chatter baits. Congratulation Joe and Mike!
The big bass was caught by Chad Alton.
It weighed 6.32 pound but was DOA. Even with a .50
penalty, they still had the big bass of the tournament
and took home $200.00. The bass was caught at the start
of the tournament on GrandeBass plastic worm.

LAKE CONDITIONS

Location on Big Sandy Creek, a tributary of the Sabine
River, in Wood County 5 miles southwest of Winnsboro,
Lake Winnsboro is only 806 acres and has a maximum depth
of 23 feet. It was impounded in 1962 and was about 3
foot low. The winds were mostly light out of the
northwest. A slow moving rain storm showed up about an
hour after the tournament started and dumped buckets of
rain on the anglers until about noon. The air temp was
around 73 and the water temp was 82. There was almost a
full harvest moon the night before. The barometric
pressure was flat at 30.06 until noon. It fell to 30.01
by the end of the tournament. We launched at the CR
4890 ramp next to the dam. Lake Store Marina was very
accommodating. They open at 5 am, had really good
food. The all you can eat catfish buffet was especially
good! Five bass limits were easy to obtain and some
anglers reported catching 30 - 50 fish. Most teams
caught a bass in the 4 pound + range.

Reggie caught his big fish early next to the fishing
barge.........5th place team Ron & Brent Edwards caught
their fish on plum colored power worms........4th place
team Charlie and Donna David caught their bass cranking
and flipping........James Croney showed off his trailer
backing skills to the club........Al Kohutek and Jon
Griffin broke their 2 year streak of winning 2nd place
in the Classic. They placed but it was last place with
9.52 pounds (the only team to weigh-in under 10
pounds)...............Joe Crouch was relaxing somewhere
on a tropical beach.......There were a lot of stumps in
the lake and one of them took a bite out of George's
boat.......Ben Griffin and Steve Reynolds had motor
problems. They caught an impressive 13.44 pounds around
the boat ramp........The rain flooded Al's camera and he
had to use Reggie's cell phone to take the
pictures.........No one was allowed to practice on the
lake before the tournament and just about everyone was
pleased with the lake choice......33 teams qualified to
fish in the Classic this year.......5 fish were
DOA. Even with the penalties, none of the dead fish
caused anyone to be bumped out of the money.

LAKE SIDE DEVOTIONAL

Herman Martin shared his personal testimony with the
club. This lake was special to him because it was about
7 years ago that he spent time locked up in the TDC at
Winnsboro. His shared his story and about his life in
the past and has been sober now for 7 years. He said he
could not have stayed sober without the help of the
Lord.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lead by Ron Edwards.

Richland Chambers -
August 28, 2010 6:00 am to 1:30 pm

Congratulations to Mike Thurman and
Joe Lee! Mike Thurman caught the big bass
weighing in at 7.31 pounds and they had the top team weight
with 13.22 pounds. Their winning stringer was caught
mid-lake fishing shallow to 12-ft of water. The first fish
of the day was a 3.5 pounder and was caught at 6:30 am on a
dock using an 11-inch worm. Their big bass was caught on a
H2O crank bait at 8 am and was their limit fish. Most of
their bass were caught on points. They took home $620.00
cash.

2010 Anglers of the year - Mike Thurman and Joe Lee
had only a 6-oz lead going into the last points tournament
of the year......after Richland Chambers they had almost a
10 pounds lead and now hold the club record for the highest
total points ever accumulated at the end of the season.
Mike and Joe fished in the money three times this year with
two 1st place wins at Palestine & Richland Chambers, and 4th
place win at Belton. Congratulations again to Mike and
Joe!

It was a very nice day to be on the lake.
Clear skies, very calm water with a slight breeze out of the
north later shifting to the south. The lake was full and
the water was clear. At 6:00 am the air temp was 70 and at
1:30 pm it climbed to 93. The water temp was around 85 -
87. The barometric pressure was 29.83 to 29.82. The moon
was almost full the night before. There was not too many
pleasure boaters out on the lake. We launched out of Oak
Cove Marina and some of the teams got hung up paying the
launch fee at the store. The ramp was great and we had a
perfect spot for the weigh-in and devotional under the cool
shade trees. There was plenty of docking spots for our
boats and ample parking for our trucks and
trailers.

Second place team, Darren Coslin and Bud Benner boated their
bass on shaky heads rigged with watermelon red
worms........Ben Griffin and Steve Reynolds finished 2nd in
overall points for the year. They also took 3rd place team
throwing watermelon and green pumpkin worms......4th place
team, Kevin Davis and Byron McFarland did very good throwing
watermelon seed Texas rigged worms.........5th place team,
Reggie Stewart and Casey Smith caught 2 nice fish under the
bridge on a Carolina-rig with red worms. Reggie's big bass
weighed 4.68 pound, at first he thought it was a catfish and
was disappointed, until it was next to the boat and he could
see it was a bass..........Al Kohutek had just the opposite
experience as Reggie. He thought he had a nice bass on, but
it turned out to be a 6-lb yellow cat.............Herman
Martin and Charles Martin managed to catch a legal bass with
no outboard motor and no trolling motor. The batteries were
totally dead when the tournament started.............Doyle &
Noah Ray had 2 dead bass. It cost them a check and bumped
them out of 2nd in the point standings..........This was the
last points tournament of the season. There was not a single
team that caught a limit in every tournament this year.

TOP TEN - POINTS LEADERS

These teams are eligible to fish the Top Ten tournament. It
will be held on a private lake near Athens on October 9th.
No entry fee is required and prizes will be awarded.

If you are in the Top Ten, let Reggie know if you are
fishing. Substitutes will come from the next inline
according to points.
There will be no 1 person teams.......a full field of 20
anglers will be competing.

LAKESIDE DEVOTIONAL

Jim Redmon shared his personal testimony
with the Bass Club.

His story began with a description of his life before being
saved by Jesus on January 27, 2007. Divorced 5 times, 5
jobs, 5 sets of kids, 5 trucks........he painted a picture
for us of a rough and mostly unhappy life that seemed to
cycle every 7 years. Jim said he tried to do everything on
his own, relied on no one, and made it a point to avoid
anything to do with church. The rough life was wearing him
down......so much so that he could only see one way to break
the cycle, and that was to end his life right after his
mother died.

In 2006 Jim's mother started getting sick. She lived in
Memphis, Tennessee and Jim made several trips to the
hospital there. Every time that the doctors said she was
going to die, he made the long drive to see her, but each
time she miraculously pulled through her illness and got
better. On every trip to Memphis, Jim did not expect to
return back to Texas.

After one of the Memphis trips, Jim got a call from his
daughter. She wanted to see him and somehow was able to
convince him to make the drive to Orange, Texas. He was not
looking forward to the visit because he knew that his
daughter would try and get him to attend church with her.
He tried his best but was unable to ditch the church
service.

During the service something happened. He was touched
twice......first by the preacher who's message seemed
amazingly personal to Jim's life. Then someone standing
behind him touched him on the back of the shoulder and
offered to pray with him. It was at that moment that he was
saved. On his knees, he asked for forgiveness and his life
was forever changed.

Jim admits he does not know why he was saved, but now knows
God has a plan for his life. God's plan transformed Jim's
life, including sharing his incredible testimony and active
involvement with the Cowboy Church of Ellis County.

Jim did give up his life on January 27, and he was
reborn.......saved by God, through faith in Christ.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lead by Ron Edwards.

Ray Roberts -
July 24, 2010 6:00 am to 1:30 pm

You know what they say….”Families that fish together, stay to
together”. Maybe we should rewrite the slogan to say “Families
that fish together win together”.

Congratulations to Grandfather/Grandson
team Joe Crouch and Michael Walden. They take
1st place with 3 fish weighing 13.43 pounds and catch big bass
of tournament. The “Old Sow” weighed 6.21 pounds. Casting a
red eye Strike King shad on the dam and throwing a 12 inch Gene
Larew worm with a 3/4 ounce sinker over brush piles in 20-30
feet of water was what put them in front of the pack. 1st place
+ big bass of the tournament paid a cool $560.00 on a very hot
afternoon. Picture:
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh311/Cowboy_Church_Bass_Club/Ray%20Roberts%202010%2007%2024/DSCN1097.jpg

Father/Son team Doyle Ray and Noah Ray
take 2nd with a 9.08 pound sack. Throwing crank baits was trick
to winning the $252 bucks. This team is just 4.45 pounds away
from the AOY title.

Father/Son Team James Cook and Dillon
Cook place 3rd and take home $84.00. Crank
baits filled their sack between 6:00 am and 6:25 am. Two of the
hawgs were caught on deep divers and the other one was caught on
a shallow diving crank bait. The Cooks are less than a pound
away from an AOY title. Picture:

LAKE CONDITIONS

Due to the summer heat, this was a short tournament. The lake
was full. Depending on where you were, the lake was clear to
murky. The skies were mostly sunny with a little cloud cover
toward the end of the tournament. The Sanger weather station
recorded winds out of the SW 8 mph to 13 mph, but it seemed a
like 15-20 mph during the first ½ of the tournament. At 6:00
am the air temp was 76 and at 1:30 pm it climbed to 91. The
water temp was around 85. The barometric pressure was 30.01 at
6:00 am and rose to 30.05 by 11:00 am. At 11:00 am it started
falling back down to 30.02 (1:30 pm). The moon was almost full
the night before. We launched out of the Sanger public ramp.
It was very nice with 4 lanes, but there was not a suitable area
for us to beach all our boats. The weigh-in area was not
shaded. Just about everyone saw sandbass schooling. The
pleasure boats and jet skis were out in full force.

Most everyone was as the ramp early and launched their boats
before the opening prayer and tournament briefing.
Reggie was the exception, somehow he got lost. In his
absence, Al Kohutek and Mike Thurman
collected the entry fees. Reggie finally rolled in about 5:25
am, led the prayer at 5:30 am, and had us in our boats by 5:32
am. It all worked out!...…..……..4th place team,
Wooddell & Walker had a nice 4 & ½ pounder in their
sack. They caught their 2 bass around 10:00 am in 5-8 ft of
water on jigs. Their sack puts them closer to the AOY title,
just ounces behind the leaders…..…… 5th place team,
Herman& Charles Martin caught their 2
bass on buzz baits and a rattle trap in the 11 o’clock
hour………….Point leaders Mike Thurman and
Joe Lee were the only team to have a 3 fish limit and
not get a check. Their AOY lead dwindled from 2 pounds to mere
ounces…..…..….Charlie David caught lots of
little spots….…. Ron Bailey & Bill Brandon
thought Ray Roberts was a slot lake and threw back an 18 inch
bass………Jon Griffin and Al Kohutek
caught 9 bass and 1 goo, but they were all under 14 inches. They
zeroed!...….James Croney was on the fish during
practice. He caught a 9 pounder and several others in the 5 and
6 pound range. I guess they had sore lips because they wouldn’t
bite his lures on tournament day. James moved from 2nd in the
AOY points standings to 6th place.

TOP TEN - POINTS LEADERS

Right now Mike Thurman and Joe Lee are hanging on to the yellow
jerseys by a thread. The next tournament is the last points
tournament of the year and it’s way too close to predict the
“Angler of the Year“ team. Can Mike and Joe hang on to the
lead?....find out at the Richland Chambers tournament on August
28th.

After August 28, the top ten teams will be eligible to fish the
Top Ten tournament on a private lake near Athens on October
9th. No entry fee is required and prizes will be awarded.

Ron Bailey and Bill Brandon
shared their Personal Testimony. Ron and Bill are tournament
partners and fish out of the only pontoon boat in the club.
Most of the time they camp overnight on their boat the night
before the tournament. They received the 2007 sportsman team of
the year award and have fished in just about every tournament
since the club was founded. They may have never won a
tournament but they really enjoy the fellowship and friendship
opportunities that the club offers.

Bill Brandon started off by telling us that his
walk with God could be compared to his tournament
fishing, describing it as persistent and persevering. He came
to know Jesus when he was a child and has had his share of ups
and downs. As humans do, even veered off the path a couple of
times, but through the grace of God Bill has always found his
way back and been blessed.

Bill gave us a few more details about his life and said…..”If
there is just one thing that you get from my testimony, it’s
that God wants to hear from us. Simply talk to him. Do it when
you are driving into work….Let him know how much you appreciate
the little things, like fishing on the lake, the sunrise and sun
set. Pray to him daily”.

Ron Bailey was up next. He started off by
saying his great grandfather was a circuit preacher and that was
probably his families foundation for their Christian
upbringing. His current profession is a school teacher and
after 34 years of teaching in the public schools, Ron said he is
planning on retiring after this year. Ron’s main point was we
should be a witness to the kids around us. He encouraged us to
not be afraid to let others know how we feel about Jesus.

ANSWERED PRAYERS

Raymond Zamarippa personally thanked the club for all the
prayers. He said they worked and as proof we can see that he is
back fishing with the club after the doctors removed 65% of his
kidney due to cancer.

Raymond, Ron Bailey, and several other club members reminded us
that we should take advantage of any cancer screening
opportunities and to wear sunscreen while we are out on the
lake.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lead by Al Kohutek.

Cedar Creek Lake -
June 26, 2010 6:00 am to 3:30 pm

Congratulations to Kevin Davis and Byron
McFarland! They brought an 11-lb 5-oz, 3 fish sack
to the scales. The best stringer on the lake! Even the Media boys
couldn't touch that. Throwing top water poppers in reeds near Log
Cabin was the what put them ahead of the pack and earned them
$450.00.

Charlie David caught the big bass dragging a crank
bait over brush piles. His hawg weighed 5.26 pounds and was good
for $150.00

LAKE CONDITIONS

It was a great day for catching little bass. The big bass seemed to
be suffering from lockjaw. The lake was full from the record rains
a few weeks before. The water was stained. The skies were sunny.
The winds were out of the SSE 8 mph with gusts up to 15 mph. At
6:00 am the air temp was 79 with humidity at 90% and by 3:30 pm it
had climbed to 90 with humidity at 60%. It felt hot all day. The
water temp was 81-82. The barometric pressure was almost flat. A
6:00 am it was 29.96 and fell to 29.94 by 3:30 pm. The moon was full
the night before. The launch site was challenging with it's one
lane ramp and a tricky driveway between the condos at Don's Marina.
We held the weigh-in on the service dock and the devo on the grass
under the trees next to the ramp. The Media boys were fishing too.
Twenty-five of them launched their boats out of Log Cabin. See
the website http://www.mediabass.com/2k10/TX/ICENT/6.shtml
As you can see from the results, they had a tough day fishing
too.

Ron Bailey caught a snake on his rod and reel and
in another boat, a snake liked Tim Casbeer and
Mike Grove.......Randy Crabb
partnered up with Bob Fogarty since Bob's partner
could not fish. Too bad they were late to the weigh-in. Word was
they had a good sack.........Jon Griffin lost his
net during the tournament take-off. It was not fastened down and
blew out of the boat while going 60 mph across the lake. He needed
it at the dam when he hooked an 8-lb yellow cat on a KVD rattle
trap. He broke off while trying to lift it in the boat (favorite
lure and all)...............James Croney fished in
the Cowboy Church tournament and his dad, Verlon Croney fish in the
Media tournament. James had a nice limit and took 4th place on
rattle traps and purple worms. His dad didn't do so
good....................The Barfields took 5th throwing Senkos
around the launch site........New members Darren Coslin and Bud
Benner took 3rd place throwing jigs and crank baits.......James
and Dillon Cook took 2nd throwing watermelon
flukes..........Tim Casbeer and Mike Grove
caught 2 keepers on shaky heads rigged with a senko, Texas rigged
worms, and crank baits.......Reggie and Tommy Stewart caught 25 fish
on a Texas rigged French fry, crank baits, and blood red worms.
Their 2 keepers were caught on the dam at 7:30 am and 9:30 am. They
also caught a nice crappie on a blood red worm. Out of the 25 bass,
only 2 were keepers................We missed Teri.

Chad Alton led a short lakeside devotional. Chad
was recently baptized and he discussed his struggles with an
addition to Copenhagen tobacco. He warned us about the dangers of
using smokeless tobacco and as testimony told us the story of his
uncle passing away just 2 weeks ago from cancer. It was his wakeup
call. Through prayer, reading the bible, and with help from his
support group, he has been able to kick the habit. He said it could
not be done without the help of God.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lead by Ron Edwards.

Lake
Limestone - May 22, 2010 6:00 am to 3:30 pm

Congratulations to Chad Alton and Chris Boulet!
They brought to the scales a whopping 14.05 pounds that included a
6.33-lb kicker bass. White Chatter baits and watermelon red
plastics were their key baits. They took home $120 for big bass and
$360 for first place stringer.

LAKE CONDITIONS

It was another windy CCBC tournament. The lake was at normal
level. The water clarity was muddy to very stained. The skies were
partly cloudy and hazy. The winds were out of the SSW from 6 to 16
mph with gusts up to 26 mph. At 6:00 am the air temp was 73
degrees and by 3:30 pm it had climbed to 91. It was hot and humid.
The water temp was 77-81. At 6:00 am the barometric pressure was
29.90 and slowly rose to 29.95 by 10:00 am. From 10:00 am to noon
it was flat. At 12:00 pm it started a sharp fall to 29.84. The moon
was about 3/4 full the night before. The launch site was located at
the dam - Brazos River Authority park #1. The launch area was better
than average. The club had use of a 3 lane boat ramp with a big
pavilion at the water's edge. Plenty of tables in the shade under
the pavilion and no launch fee. It was a perfect place for the
weigh-in and devo. Some of the guys stayed at Running Branch Marina
on Friday night. It cost only $13 per bed if you had 5 guys in your
cabin. Running Branch is a really nice place to stay.

The guys who practiced the week before predicted a tough tournament,
but the conditions changed. Several teams had quality bass in their
sack!...........2nd place father son team Doyle and
Noah Ray caught their bass on chatter baits, a rig,
and blue flake beaver. Their 3rd keeper bass was caught just before
the weigh-in. Their sack weighed an impressive 13.30
pounds!.........3rd place husband and wife team Charlie
and Donna David caught their bass before 7:00 am on
a Bill Norman shad color crank bait. They had 12 pounds in their
bag, but a dead fish penalty that dropped their total weight to
11.50 pounds........4th place team Jim Love and
Tracy Derrick caught their bass on sour grape
caterpillars pitched under docks..........5th place team
Brandon Wooddell and George Walker caught
their bass on June bug rigs fishing mid-lake. Most of their bass
were caught just before the weigh-in.......Father and son team James
and Dillon Cook caught their bass on bandit crank baits, drop shots,
and flukes.......Al Kohutek and Jon Griffin caught
their one bass on a motor oil worm with red flakes and curly tail,
rigged Carolina style........Reggie finally weighed
in a bass.

Mike Thurman led the lakeside devotional with his
partner Joe Lee by his side. The message was God is in control and
trials will make you stronger. He said...."Even though you walk the
Christ life, you will have trials"

Mike shared his personal testimony with the club and began to tell
us about his family. He said a little over 4 years ago, on the
weekend before Easter, his mom fell and hit her head on a sewing
machine. The injury was serious. Her spinal cord was damage and she
had major paralysis. A way of life was changed in a matter of
seconds.

Mike thought he was in control. He thought he could fix this with
the help of doctors, specialist, and therapy, but after several
years of trying the stress and strain on him and his family was more
than he could bear. He realized then that he is not in control and
he turned it all over to the Lord.

Mike has been able to work through this time of trial with help of
his friends, his dad, Joe Lee, the club, and the church. What Mike
was saying to us was once we accept that God is in control, it will
bring us peace. Mike let us know that even with the setbacks and
prognosis, his parents are still very happy.

Joe Lee read a few passages from the Bible....

"Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this is
your kingdom. We adore you as being in control of everything.
Riches and honor come from you alone, and you are the Ruler of all
mankind; your hand controls power and might and it is at your
discretion that men are made great and given strength" -1 Chronicles
29:11-12

Reggie reminded us that we can count on our brothers to lift us up
and that when God leads you to it, God will lead you through it.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lead by James Cook.

Lake Palestine -
April 24, 2010 6:00 am to 3:30 pm

Joe Lee and Mike Thurman beat the wind and take
big bass and 1st place team! Their 3 fish stringer weighed
13.30 pounds. Their big bass was 5.22 pounds. Total take home was
$560.00.

LAKE CONDITIONS

Storms blew in just hours before the tournament started. Getting to the
lake was a challenge due to fallen trees blocking the highways. Some
members had to backtrack and go different routes because the roads were
closed. At 6 am you could see the lighting off in the distance.
The first couple of hours it was cloudy and calm, but as the sun came
out the winds picked up making the ride back to the launch site very
difficult. The winds were out of the west with gusts up to 26 mph
(seemed like 40). At first light the air temp was 58 degrees and at
weigh-in it was 78. The water temp was 67 near the dam and 76 at
mid-lake. The barometric pressure was steady around 29.60 and then
started falling at noon. At 3:00 pm it was 29.55. The moon was almost
full the night before. The launch site was great! Villages Marina did
the club right. Good ramp, plenty of parking, and the beach area for
the boats was perfect. Reggie parked his camper just a few feet from
the water.

THE RESULTS

28 teams entered (1 team did not fish)
14 limits were caught (a limit is 3 fish 14 inches or greater)
4 teams zeroed.
53 fish were weighed in with a weight of 121.52 pounds.
2.29 pounds was the average fish weight

20% given to the church........$280.00
10% given to the club............$140.00
10% big bass........................$140.00
$840.00 balance divided.....................first 50%, second 30%,
third 10%, forth 5%, & fifth 5%

Sixth place team Kevin Davis and Byron
McFarland caught their bass on swim baits and rattle
snakes........5th place team James Cook and Joe caught their bass on
flukes..........4th place team Merman Martin and
Charles Martin caught their bass on rattle
traps........3rd place team Brandon Wooddell and
George Walker caught their bass on jigs and a rig using
Lake Fork craw worms.........Al and Jon
caught their bass on wacky rigs, chug bugs, and stick worms, and lizards
in the mid lake and lower lake..........Reggie had a
tough day. He did not get much sleep the night before due to the
storms. His partner, Tommy Stewart had to leave early
so he could be at a friend's wedding. Reggie has not
weighed in a fish this year.....Joe Lee and
Mike Thurman had a cool setup for measuring the
bass............The Loves didn't love their big bass. It was DOA........Al
and Jon made a long run from the dam when the winds
were the strongest. They had the roughest ride of their lives and were
soaking wet at the weigh-in. Several other teams got drenched on the
trip back to the weigh-in due to the big waves on the lake...........Jeff
Skagges ran over a stump and knocked a hole in his boat and the
Barfields came to the rescue! They had to make a trip
to the local Wal-Mart and buy a bow saw to free the boat. To make it
worse as they were towing the sunk boat to the ramp, they knocked
another hole in the hull. This all happened early in the morning so
neither team got to fish more than an hour and 1/2..............Danny
Stokes and Bob Fogarty were a little late to
the weigh-in. They had to tow in a stranded boater (not in the club).
Reggie let the team weigh-in their bass without any
penalty. Hats off to the Barfields, Danny, and Bob!
Their actions make the club shine............Brandon
and George caught a real nice hybrid striper on a
rig.......Mike Grove caught a bunch of stripers. His
partner Tim Casbeer got sick around 1 pm and had to
head back to the ramp. Tim said he caught some kind of stomach
virus..........Joe Crouch and his grandson,
Michael Walden both caught 20 bass each........Teri
Stewart made sandwiches for those who were hungry. Thanks
Teri!..........Mike Thurman and Joe Lee
are leading the pack

LAKE SIDE DEVOTIONAL

James Croney shared his personal testimony with the club. He readily
admitted that the 3 Bs (babes, booze, and bars) were taking him down the
wrong path.

He said he was living life in the darkness and quoted scripture:

John 3:19-20This is the verdict: Light has come into
the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds
were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come
into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

James shared a story about someone who helped him find the light. That
someone was Van Reynolds.

James and Van chatted one night while pitching washers. Van shared with
James information about the Cowboy Church, a different kind of a church
and that James should check it out. Van was there for James right when
he needed someone to talk to and it is the reason James is in our club
and involved in the Cowboy Church of Ellis County.

James shared more of his favorite quotes:

John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,
"I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of
life."

Matthew 4:19"Come, followme,"
Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers
of men."

If you didn't know, Van Reynolds was a brand new member in our bass club
when he lost his life practicing for the February 2007 tournament on
Lake Fairfield. Many of us were on the lake when he drowned. None of
us knew the impact he would have on our club, but God knew. God had a
plan for Van......to use the church and bass fishing to draw others
closer to him, including James Croney......now James is a fisher of
men.

James Croney catches a MONSTER! It weighed 8.43
pounds and was good for a $160.00 check. Combined with Chandler's bass
they took 2nd place team and another $288.00 giving them a total of
$456.00. James said the hawg took a Texas rigged watermelon red/candy
craw worm around noon. He had one spot that was in the upper lake near
the bridge where the water was stained next to some very muddy water.
The spot was a staging point with a 45 degree slope between two flats in
17-ft water. Congratulations James and Chandler!

First Place went to Jimmy and Jim Redmon. They caught
a 11.66 pound sack that included a 5.39 kicker. Their 3 bass were good
for a $480.00 check.
Jim said the key bait was a red rattle trap and wacky worms.

LAKE CONDITIONS

At first light the air temp was 45 degrees and at weigh-in it was 78.
The boat ramp water temp at 6:00 AM was 56 and 62-63 degrees in various
pockets later in the day. Winds were out of the south 6 mph at first
light, 15 mph by 11 am, and 26 mph at weigh-in with gusts up to 32 out
of the west. The barometric pressure was steady around 29.80. The moon
was almost full the night before. The lake had muddy, stained, and clear
condition depending on where you were. Ramp conditions were
great......however, very rocky and a rough area to beach your boat.

THE RESULTS

32 teams fished
7 limits were caught (a limit is 3 fish with a 14 inches or greater)
10 teams zeroed.
43 fish were weighed in with a weight of 104.01 pounds.
2.42 pounds was the average fish weight

20% given to the church........$320.00
10% given to the club............$160.00
10% big bass........................$160.00
$960.00 balance divided.....................first 50%, second 30%,
third 10%, forth 5%, & fifth 5%

Dwayne Morgan filled in for Al Kohutek with a jerkbait bite that boated
20+ fish and 1 keeper...Donna David returned to partner with
husband/Aggie Charlie to anchor 5th place throwing crank baits and drop
shots..........George Walker back-seated partner Brandon Wooddell,
boating both keepers..........James Cook got ticketed driving in...or
was Dillon driving??.......Tim Casbeer & Mike Grove got into a mess of
stripers, and their bass bag helped them crack the top 10......Bucks
were aplenty, the 14" plus was an illusive bite....Speaking of bucks,
that area is full of deer.......Due to a threat of high winds, the start
time was moved to sunlight-great move Reggie!...5 bass @ 5 plus pounds
were weighed in........Conditions were near perfect for the 1st 6 hours
of the tourney, then the winds picked up, but bass continued to bite
right up to weigh-in......Mike Thurman and Joe Lee took 4th place
throwing chatter baits and flukes.

LAKE SIDE DEVOTIONAL (by Jon
Griffin)

Reggie related his devo to the signs we're all confronted with on a
daily basis. There are good signs....there are bad signs...there are
speed limit signs that may be overlooked (see James Cook above!). The
Bible is full of obvious signs. The burning bush...the red sea...locust
invasion....Reggie shared that many of us may look to the heavens "for a
sign". Jesus told us to always be on the lookout and to be prepared for
his coming.

Obviously, with this Easter week, the ultimate signs occurred over 2,000
years ago.

Sign #2-The empty tomb. No one can ever explain this
away, except for one absolute. He said he would rise again...and He
did.

When you're expecting a sign from God...do know, very rarely, it's not a
giant, well lit sign that blinds us. It's the subtle & quiet signs when
God speaks the loudest. His word says "be still and know that he is with
us." Like a 9 pound bucketmouth inhaling that jig....often times you
only feel a "tick".

(Psalm 46:10) "Be Still and know that I am
God".

It reminds us to let go and trust God to do God's will. It reminds us
to slow down, shut our mouths...and listen. He's always
communicating....His signs are continually and squarely in front of us.

Lake Monticello -
February 27, 2010 6:00 am - 3:30pm

Slot lakes are for the lucky!
Monticello is one of those slot lakes where you have to throw back all bass
between 14 and 24 inches. It's not necessarily the most skilled anglers
that win a tournament on a slot lake, it's really the luckiest fisherman who
happens to catch a short fat bass under 14 inches.

Jon Griffin and Al Kohutek got lucky! Jon
caught the big bass of the day. It weighed 1.77 pounds and was good for
$165.00 That fish came from the creek next to the FM 127 bridge (south/west
side) just past a big dead tree sticking out of the water. Fishing behind
another boat, Jon got lucky and caught the baby pig on a C-rig around 1:00
pm in 8 ft of water. At the weigh-in the Game Warden was standing right in
front of Jon's boat. Jon and Al knew that bass measured just a hair under
the 14 inches mark, but how would it measure on someone else's board? Jon
decided to take the risk and weigh the fish. That decision was the right
one!......Reggie even said "It don't get no closer than that!" Jon's little
bass measured under 14 inches (pinched tail on the ruler).

Al and Jon's total sack weight was 2.41 pounds and included 1 other little
fish that weighed 0.64 lb. That bass was caught on a Carolina Rig around
8:00 am in 2-ft of water. First place paid $495 giving Al and Jon $660.00
in total winnings

Congratulations to James and Dillon Cook! They placed second with a 3 fish limit weighing 2.28 pounds (only
2 ounces behind Al and Jon). Those 3 little bass were good for $297.00

LAKE CONDITIONS

The lake was full and the water was clear. At 6:00 am the air temp was 35
degrees. It rose steadily all day and by the end of the tournament the
temperature was a very comfortable 59 degrees. It was foggy in the morning,
the skies were clear and the winds were out of the west 5-15 mph with gust
up to 23 mph. The water temp on most of the lake was 65-70. The discharge
was warmer, probably around 78. There was a full moon shining on us as we
started the tournament. The barometric pressure was 30.13 at 6:00 am and
rose to 30.17 by 9:00 am. At noon it started falling and was 30.07 at the
weigh-in. There was another tournament going on so the lake was very
crowded.

THE RESULTS

33 teams fished
2 limits were caught (a limit is 3 fish with a 14-24 inch no keep slot)
23 teams zeroed.
17 fish were weighed in with a weight of 14.99 pounds.
0.88 pounds was the average fish weight

20% given to the church........$330.00
10% given to the club............$165.00
10% big bass........................$165.00
$990.00 balance divided.....................first 50%, second 30%, third
10%, forth 5%, & fifth 5%

The 127 bridge was a popular spot. As many as 13 boats were
shoulder to shoulder fishing next to each other .........The discharge
outlet and power-line poles around the discharge area was slow..........Al
and Jon caught 13 slot fish near the railroad track bridge
(most weighed between 3 and 5 pounds). Their most productive lure was senkos.......Brandon
and George camped out on a spot and caught several
on rigs and flukes and took 4th place.....Ben Griffin and
Steve Reynolds took 3rd place using rattle snakes. They
were the only other team to have a 3 fish limit and took home $99.00 in
prize money.............Al Kohutek tried to do a long jump
from Jon's boat to the bank at the weigh-in. He was short just a foot, hit
the mud and fell right in front of the Game Warden and all the
spectators........Reggie almost signed up a new team that
was fishing the other tournament........George and
Brandon almost didn't make the cut off time at the weigh-in.......Byron
McFarland said a little miniature black/blue flake senko was their
hot bait............This year's February tournament stats were almost
identical to last year's tournament stats. Al &
Jon's won 1st on this lake two times in a row. They are leading the
points race by just a couple of ounces.

LAKE SIDE DEVOTIONAL

Reggie had prepared a entirely different devotional for us, but
circumstances changed his heart and he instead focused how wrong it is to
worry about things. He gave his testimony.

It all started the day before the tournament. Reggie took off mid-day on
Friday. He wanted to beat the traffic out of town and get to the lake early,
but right off the bat he hit a major traffic jam and got stuck on hwy 67.
The stop and go slow traffic along with bad fuel in his tank started causing
his engine to act up. That began his long trip down worry lane.

Reggie said after getting off to a slow start, they finally hit I-20 at
normal speed. The problem was the club's ice chest and snacks also hit
I-20......HARD. They flew off the truck and crashed into the pavement going
70 mph.

What else could go wrong? Reggie stopped at the Wal-Mart in Mt. Pleasant and
lost his wallet with all his credit cards and a good amount of cash. To
make things worse, Teri was not with him.

Reggie worried about these things all day and most of the night! Finally
late that night Reggie decided enough was enough and gave it all to the
Lord. He prayed and let God take his worries.

Well things were good until the next morning. Reggie started to worry about
his wallet again. Reggie said that was a big mistake. He said once we give
it up to the Lord, we should not take it back. Well God showed him.....his
water pump went out on the outboard motor and he could not catch any fish no
matter how hard he tried.

Reggie said he finally realized that worrying about his problems were not
going to make things better. After he put his worries back down, things got
better.

It was just a few minutes before the weigh-in that Reggie got the call from
Teri. She told Reggie that the police had called her and they had his
wallet with all the cash and credit cards still in it. It appears that the
wallet was found at the Wal-Mart in Mt. Pleasant by a good Samaritan and
taken to the police station in Winnsboro.

It was then that Reggie realized that God is in control.....once we give up
our worries to the Lord, we should not take them back. God opened Reggie
eyes and let him know that God is in control, not Reggie.

There are several passages in the Bible that back up what Reggie was
saying. Jesus said in Matthew 6: 25-34

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your
life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is
not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in
barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more
valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his
life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his
splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass
of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will
he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying,
'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For
the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that
you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble
of its own.